the covid numbers he's been seeing since christmas. but after the governor's announcement, that tone changed a bit. >> we were informed that this new variant, this new strain that we've identified obviously from the united kingdom, some other parts of the globe, identified in colorado yesterday, has been identified here in the state of california. >> reporter: that was the bombshell the governor delivered during a live conversation with dr. anthony fauci today. santa clara county's public health officials were unhappy but not surprised to hear that the new, more infectious strain of covid now being detected in california. >> we are not surprised at all that that train strain is in oue and very likely in the bay area. >> reporter: officials say the availability of icu in the south bay increased from 7% yesterday to 9% today. but they didn't have much time to feel good about that once the governor delivered the news about the new strain. but everyone is quick to try and

ease concern with dr. fauci noting that the current vaccine is likely to be just as effective against this mutated strain and noting that while it appears to be more infectious, it's not necessarily more lethal. >> there's no indication at all that it increases the virulence. by virulence, i mean the ability to make you sick or kill you. it doesn't seem to make it more strong in that regard. >> reporter: that's encouraging news for santa clara county since as of today, the public health department has received 52,300 doses of the moderna vaccine and 42,900 doses of the pfizer vaccine. but the oem director says the public must also keep up the basic precautions such as masks and social distancing. >> this new strain is all the more reason that we need to be aware of our ability to transmit the virus. this new strain is more transmissible. >> reporter: well, the public health department says this all puts more focus on a christmas surge as well as any upcoming

new year's celebrations, especially if, as officials say they believe, the mutant strain is already here in the bay area. live in san jose, robert handa, nbc bay area news. >> and during that joint news conference, the governor asked dr. fauci the question we all want to ask. when can we expect to return to some sort of normalcy? >> if we do the kind of vaccines through april, may, june, july, that by the time we get to the early fall, we will have enough good herd immunity to be able to really get back to some strong semblance of normality. schools, theaters, sports events, restaurants. i believe if we do it correctly, we will be there by the early fall. >> there you have it. dr. fauci also believes while the vaccine rollout may be lagging a bit, right now it should be picking up and hit its stride sometime in january. that means most people will start having access to it by spring.

getting kids back in the classroom. two hours before his chat with dr. fauci, governor newsom explained his plan to reopen schools across the state. now, that plan includes providing $2 billion for coronavirus testing, making sure classrooms have the proper ventilation, and supplying schools with enough masks and other personal protective equipment. nbc bay area's christie smith is in san francisco with a closer look at that plan and whether it will work. >> i am ecstatic. this is precisely the turn of events that we needed in order to get students back in school. >> reporter: that's san francisco supervisor hillary ronen reacting to governor newsom's announcement, not only as a politician but also a mom. >> i'm a mother of a second grader, and i can tell you that distance learning is not the same as in-person learning, especially for the little ones. >> reporter: ronen has pushed for educators to be prioritized for getting the vaccine, in part to get them back in the classroom.

now, the governor's plan could add more motivation for hesitant districts. >> here's the plan. phased in, in-person learning strategy that would focus disproportionately on those youngest cohorts and those that are most in need, our high-risk children. >> reporter: the governor says funding will be used for everything from personal protective equipment to testing. >> we're proposing an early active legislative plan to provide an additional $2 billion of support to the schools, particularly schools that wish to open as early as february. it works out to about $450 per pupil. >> reporter: distance learning would still be an option. in addition to the money, today's proposal also includes an updated health and safety plan, testing guidelines, and a dashboard to track cases. susan solomon is president of united educators of san francisco and says initially it sounds promising but would have also been helpful six months ago, and details are critical.

>> a lot of that will depend on whether all the things can be delivered, what the rate of covid actually is, and what the availability of vaccinations are. >> reporter: in san francisco, christie smith, nbc bay area news. let's take a closer look at icu bed availability in california. southern california and the san joaquin valley, you see zero percent availability. look at the bay area. a big drop overnight. much better than over there in southern california, but still we're now at 7.5%. that is down from 10% just yesterday. here's the availability by county. six counties are in the red zone. as you probably know by now, that means less than 15% available icu beds. san mateo county dropping down to 4%. santa clara county at 5%. napa county hit their all-time low and you can't get any lower, zero percent up there. the health department up there says they have no icu beds available, partly because of

staffing. grief and anger over a dying family member led to a violent scuffle at a solano county hospital. about ten loved ones were gathered outside fairfield's north bay medical center last night. a relative inside was dying from heart disease in the intensive care unit, but with covid patients nearby, only two family members were allowed in to facetime the visit to the other ones outside. now, after finding out that the relative died, the hospital says some of that person's relatives who were outside rushed the security team in the lobby and assaulted officers, who tried to escort them out. when fairfield police arrived, the family members ran off. three security officers were treated in the e.r., but they were not admitted to the hospital. seniors and staff in skilled nursing home facilities are next in line to get the covid-19 vaccine. it's been a relatively smooth process for frontline health care workers to get vaccinated, but getting the vaccine to every nursing home is going to take a

whole lot more work. nbc bay area's melissa colorado spent the day at a retirement community in walnut creek, where some of the first seniors in northern california got the covid-19 vaccine. >> reporter: it is vaccine day here at this senior living facility in walnut creek. while it wasn't required for these seniors to get the vaccine, it was heavily encouraged. the executive director tells me she did not have a hard time convincing these seniors to get the covid-19 vaccine. most of them signed up. >> we got the best christmas present ever. we got to get our covid vaccine. >> reporter: it's the gift that comes in a vial, and gloria cabral was one of the first residents at the via monte senior living community to receive it. 160 vaccines to be split between staff and residents. executive director melody mitchell says in the beginning, there were some bumps in the road. >> it was mixed information. first, you know, we were hearing that it would be before

christmas, and then we were working with walgreens, and it was just -- we weren't quite clear when it was going to happen. >> reporter: then came the call on monday from john muir health, which contra costa county had just tapped to help vaccinate seniors and staff in retirement communities. mitchell says when she told the seniors that they could get the shot as early as wednesday, their reaction was this. >> they cheered. they have been waiting for it for quite a while. >> reporter: mitchell says 97% of the seniors agreed to roll up their sleeves. >> a few months ago, i was thinking, i don't want to be the guinea pig. >> reporter: health experts are hoping millions of vaccine skeptics will follow robert brewer's example and change their minds. >> you know, this -- this pandemic has made us all feel like, oh, find a way out. >> reporter: in walnut creek, melissa colorado, nbc bay area news. if you're wondering when it will be your turn to get the

vaccine, make sure you check out our interactive tool. it will ask you a few questions, including where you live and whether or not you're an essential worker, and then it will give you a rough estimate of your place in line. we've put the link to it right on the front page of our website. it's nbcbayarea.com. make sure you click on where you stand in the vaccine line at the top right there on our trending bar. we are following a developing story in the south bay, and it is heartbreaking. police are on the scene of a deadly accident, and the victim is a child. the young person was killed this afternoon in the 3600 block of monterey road in san jose. police say a big rig carrying cars was being unloaded at a used car dealership. a large truck that was being hauled hit the child, who was later pronounced dead. the child's age is not being released right now. police only calling him or her a juvenile. all right. well, more rain on the way. the first chances really just hours away now. stormranger, our exclusive mobile doppler radar, out scanning for any signs of the

storm. we could see maybe some showers overnight. chief meteorologist jeff ranieri with a look at what we can expect. jeff. >> and, terry, that rainfall is already developing just to the north of us as you'll see on stormranger mobile doppler radar in this wider view i'm giving right now. the cold front, which i'm tracking, that has that rainfall associated with it is just off to the north. so as that continues to sweep down over the bay area tonight, we'll see those spotty showers. i'm not really worried about this. it's not a big storm system as you can see. near santa rosa, sebastopol, some very, very light activity, more in the way of drizzle right now. but overall things would expect to pick up here around 7:30 tonight with more spotty rain over the north bay and then eventually as we hit 11:30, we'll see some of those showers making it down towards the peninsula. this will hang on into the early morning hours of thursday. right around 3:30 we'd have our best chance some of rain down towards the south bay. and this thing will move out of

here fast, by 7:00 a.m. tomorrow, it is gone. but coming up, i am going to take a look at some brand-new timing changes to our wetter weather pattern that's developing in the pacific. i'll give you everything you need to know and talk about those timing changes and what it means for our rain forecast. i'm back in about eight minutes. >> all right. jeff. thanks so much. coming up, covid claims the life of the beloved gilligan's island actress who pleaayed marianne. plus finally snow. after a very dry summer and fall. how this year's snowpack is stacking up to years gone by.

a tv actress who became an icon of 1960s pop culture has died from coronavirus. her real name was dawn wells, but everyone knew her as mary ann from the sitcom gi"gilligan islan island". she was 82 years old. on the show, her portrayal of the girl next door grounded a group of over the top characters stranded on a deserted island after going out to sea for a three-hour tour. wells' career started when she represented her home state of nevada in the 1959 miss america pageant. while she appeared on several tv shows, she remains best known and most loved for being mary ann. one of wells' co-stars, tina louise, who played ginger, released a statement saying, i hope that people will remember her the way i do, always with a smile on her face. this new map from the cdc shows our state has the worst covid outbreak in the nation. check this out. it is color coded. the darker blue you are, the

worse off you are. and california is as blue as you can get. recorded an average of 95 new cases per 100,000 people. tennessee also getting pretty hard hit. it was in first place for a while, but now we're ahead of tennessee. it's got 81 cases per 100,000 people. hawaii seeing the least amount of new cases. that state seeing just 7 new cases per 100,000. this news come, as we told you earlier, as a new strain of the coronavirus has been detected in southern california and colorado. and as health leaders warn, the country may be entering some of the worst weeks of the entire pandemic. nbc sarah dallof has the story. >> reporter: a highly contagious variant of covid-19 first discovered in the uk now in the u.s., where it's been confirmed in a member of the colorado national guard deployed to an assisted care facility. officials now investigating a second possible case in that state. >> our public health officials are working diligently to identify anyone else who may have been exposed and any other potential cases to test them, to see if there's a chain of

transmission. >> reporter: another case now identified in southern california. the developments adding to the urgency of vaccinations that are going more slowly than planned. operation warp speed acknowledging it's behind schedule. >> vaccine allocations or uptake usually starts out a little slow,nd ahent increases exponti exponentially. >> reporter: in florida, health careorke w lining up to get initial doses. >> this is just another piece of the puzzle, but one step closer. >> rorter: seniors at another location camping out overnight. >> we've been here since 3:00 yesterday afternoon. >> reporter: as health care systems reach a breaking point. in southern california, hospitals converting parking lots, even cafeterias to handle surges of patients. >> we're scared. we don't know what walking into. >> reporter: the virus claiming the life of this congressman-elect days before he

was set to be sworn in. at new york's cathedral, bells ringing in memory of those lost, a number the cdc projects could top 400,000 in the first weeks of the new year. sarah dallof, nbc news. california's snowpack measurements today came in at 93% of normal for this time of year in the lake tahoe area. that sounds good. that is good, but it's not the whole picture as statewide, the snowpack is just about half what it should be at this time of year. one of the driest fall seasons on record created an unprecedented series of wildfires which can affect the snowpack in many ways. >> potentially altering some of the snow retention due to the loss of tree canopy, increased snowmelt rates, as well as any kind of reduced percolation due to those severely burned soils. >> people are being urged to make conserving water a way of life. if you plan on walking along the beach sometime over this

long holiday weekend, make sure you are careful. a beach hazard warning is in effect because of dangerous sneaker waves and rip currents. this video right here was taken earlier today at ocean beach. it's a place known for its dangerous conditions. let's check in with jeff ranieri right now. we're talking about rain in a matter of hours, jeff, right? >> yes. certainly got that right. some spotty showers developing here just off to the north, and this will keep at least some of those waves at the coastline with an active storm pattern really as we head throughout the next several days. as we just mentioned, be very careful out there on the beaches. we'll get this microclimate forecast started off right with a look at stormranger, our mobile doppler radar. there's the cold front. this is what i'm following that would bring us our best chance of showers. right now it is positioned just off to the north, so as that drops to the south tonight, we'll see our chances of some showers beginning to increase. we'll get you a closer look here at the bay area, and we're

primarily dry. a little bit of rainfall developing near guerneville, and once again that would be bringing santa rosa some spotty shower chances over the next few hours. let's take a look at my futurecast, and we'll take it through tonight. you can see at 7:30, some of that hit and miss rain over the north bay, and then this will be pushing off to the south, over the peninsula, close to the south bay and the east bay by 11:30. i think our best chances for points off towards the south would be very early thursday morning around 3:00 and 4:00 a.m., and then this moves out of here fast. you can see what i mean. by 7:00 a.m., we are looking at clear skies. so as we move through tomorrow's forecast, we are starting off colder as those skies clear out. those temperatures will be able to drop more, so we are back to that heavier jacket weather. 39 for the south bay. tri-valley at 36. peninsula at 40. if you're headed to the grocery store to get some food for new year's eve for your small gathering at home with your immediate family, we are going to be seeing, again, that chilly weather start. 38 for the east bay.

san francisco 41. down to 37 in the north bay. daytime highs tomorrow will stay on the cool side here. not many changes as we head through our microclimates. 61 in napa. down to livermore, 58. over to palo alto, i have you at 59 degrees. so all in all, clearing skies as we roll through the day tomorrow, and what about new year's eve? look, i know it's different for a lot of us. we have our stay at home restrictions in place. but we may want to go out and make some noise in our front or backyards. once we hit midnight, once we head into 2021, you will need that jacket with you and to go with that, maybe hats and your noisemaker as we'll be down to 44 there at midnight. on my extended forecast, you'll see we are starting off 2021 right with some partly cloudy skies, and we are still looking at some rain chances. the big change in the forecast is saturday and sunday. it looks like some spotty chances. then we would likely see things pick up by monday, tuesday, and

wednesday. the timing on our rainfall has pushed back, but overall over that five day period from saturday through wednesday, we'd see about a half inch to two inches of rainfall. better bet for those higher totals in the north bay, especially in the mountains. it looks like wednesday could be the wettest day of the week as we head through that seven-day forecast. still got a lot of things that could change on this forecast. we'll keep you updated on that, terry and anoushah. anoushah, i know you've been doing that for a while at home, but it's great to have someone else at home on air at the same time. technology is so cool. >> you know, jeff, i have a dog too, but my dog is probably like one-tenth the size of your dog. so maybe he'll make an appearance some time. you're not alone at home now. >> yeah, we've got to get her on. >> yeah. all right, jeff. thanks. >> thanks a lot. coming up, quite the sight here at the golden gate bridge. a ship carrying three giant

cranes passing right underneath. the maneuvering it took to make this all possible. ahead for us, california confirms its first case of a new strain of covid after two cases were reported in colorado. and new insights into the man who set off that bomb on christmas in nashville. those stories and much more ahead on "nightly news."

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if you don't have health insurance, you still have time to sign up for it. the deadline to enroll for covered california is midnight, and coverage begins on friday. open enrollment will continue through january, but any policy started after the deadline won't provide coverage until february 1st. there are more than 1.2 million californians who uninsured but could be eligible. for more information about covered california, make sure you go to our website, it's nbcbayarea.com. take a look at this video

from our skyranger. very cool stuff. it shows the largest container cranes ever for the port of oakland arriving into the bay. the ship brought the cranes from china. they made a brief stop in drake's bay to dismantle part of the cranes. each crane is 300 feet tall. it's the length of a football field. taller than oakland's tribune tower. the booms of the cranes are so high they had to be lowered so they could kind of do the limbo under the golden gate bridge. yes, they're going to make it. this would have been further up in the newscast. the ship is anchored just off of treasure island where it will remain for several days while final preparations are made for it to dock in the port of oakland. we asked your help and you overwhelmingly answered the call, and we want to thank you for stepping up and helping make our nourishing neighbors food drive a huge success. this holiday season we partnered with local safeways to help fill local food banks. now, this year more important than ever before with more

people needing the help, of course, because of the pandemic. now, our goal this year was to raise $2.5 million, and we are so proud to report that we raised more than $3 million. so, again, we want to tha everybody w donated. we truly, truly appreciate the help. >> yeah, thanks very much. well, a hawk rescue in the east bay like none you've ever seen. we'll be right back.

tonight at 6:00, we continue to track the new strain of coronavirus now detected here in california. we'll talk one-on-one with an infectious disease specialist at ucsf. the reason he says he's not surprised by today's developments. that story and more tonight in our 6:00 newscast. and coming up on "nightly news," a third vaccine just approved in the uk and just days away from being given out. why the new strain of the virus is not a problem for this vaccine. how soon it could be coming to the u.s. finally tonight, we've got some really good news. twitter love for fir responders in the east bay after they collaborated on a dramatic rescue. check it out. the victim, a redtail hawk tangled in kite string that

tethered him to a palm tree. the police department summoned alameda county firefighters. they performed a ladder race. they cut away the string allowing the hawk to get the hawk out of there. >> that was clever, terry. >> that was michelle garcia, our director. back at 6:00. tonight, growing concerns as that highly contagious covid variant is discovered in a second u.s. state the new strain now detected in california after a second suspected case in colorado it comes as covid surges across the country. a congressman-elect dying from the virus at just 41, days before he was to be sworn in, and more covid patients hospitalized now than ever before. also tonight, new hope as the uk approves the oxford/astrazeneca vaccine, but here at home why is the vaccine effort falling drastically short of the trump administration's target as olde